Tack-removing device for skin drying holders



May 10, 1932. BERRY 1,857,834

TACK REMOVING DEVICE FOR SKIN DRY'ING HOLDERS Filed Nov. 14, 1929 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 May 10, G BERRY 1,857,834

TACK REMOVING DEVICE FOR SKIN DRYING HOLDERS Filed No 14, 1929 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 fivenifom Patented May 10,1932

cams srAr-Es rarest do if GUY H. BERRY, 0F HAVERHILL, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNQR- TO L. H: HAMEL LEATHER 00., 0F HAVE'RHILL, MASSACHUSETTS, A CORPORATION OF MASSACHUSETTS.

TACK-REMOVING DEvion non SKIN DRYING nonnnns Application filed November 14, 1929. Serial No. 407,118.

This invention relates toccertain improvements in relation to the apparatus for stretch ing and drying skins disclosed in the application of L. H. Hamel, Serial No. 324,613,1iled 5 December 8th 1928, in which the skins are stretched on, and secured to the oppositesides of a series of boards by means :of tacks having large heads and long shanks, which are driven through the skins into the boards, as

10 the boards are propelled horizontally over .a

support by a primary endless conveyer, and the boards then being conducted to, and through a dry room by a secondary conveyer and then returned to the primary conveyer where the skins are removed, so that fresh skins may be attached and the operation may be carried on continuously. I

More particularly, this invention relates to means for automatically removing the tacks from the boards after the skins have been dried, so that, as the boards are returned to the position in which the skins are to be secured thereto, the boards will be free from tacks and the skins will have been removed.

In the practical operation of the machine various difficulties have been encountered in automatically removing the tacks from the boards, due to the fact that the ordinary small skin has flanks or tongues extending from various portions thereof, which frequently are either not attached directly to the board, or become detached, on account of the falling out of the tacks, so that they hang down from the board when the skin is on its under side and the board is supported horizontally. As, for a number of reasons, it is more desirable to remove the tacks from a side of the board when the side is facing downward, these depending" flanks have been found to interfere seriously with the operation of a tack pulling device of the character shown in said prior application. Also, when a tack ispulled from the board the skin is likely to be pulled away from the board by the tacks when removed, as the skins tend to cling to the tacks, so that. the operation of pulling the tacks is likely to be interfered with from this cause with a device of the character above referred to.-

The objects of my invention are to provide a form of tack pulling means which will antomatically remove all the tacks from the under sides of the boards, as they are propelled horizontally while in ahorizontal position, the operation of'which will not. be interfered with by flanks, or tongues which may depend from the skin, or by the tendency :of the skin to cling to the tacks :as they are pulled from theboard. Also to provide means which effectively separate the tacks fromth-e skins, so that the-tacks may fall into one receptacle and the skins into another.

I accomplish these objects primarily, by providing means located beneath, andclose to the path of movement of the boards, which is adapted to receive the shank "portions of the tacks which pnotrnde from the boards and to engage the under sides of the heads thereof, so that, as the board is carried the-reover, the tacks will be retained and pulled therefrom, and by pn'oviding, in connections therewith, means to support the skins in close proximity to the board's when the skins become detached therefrom, which is adapted to permit the heads of the tacks to pass therethru', so that they may be engaged by said pulling means and removed while the skin is held by said supnorting means. l I

For a more complete disclosure of the invention reference is made to the following specification, in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 is :a side elevation of a portion of themachi-ne of said application including an embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 2 is a plan view thereof.

Fig. 3 is a detail view.

Fig. 4 is a side elevation illustrating a modification-of the'in-vention.

The machine with which the present-invention is associated is substantially asdisclosed in said prior application and comprises a pair of parallel frames 10, a pair of endless chains 12, which are driven longitudinally of said frames and supported thereby, so that they travel horizontally thereon, and a series of boards 14, each of which is provided with aligned trunnions 16, which project from each end thereof and are so arranged that the axial line thereof is at one receiving receptacle 25.

.with a horizontal track 18 and the chains have fingers 20, which extend perpendicularly therefrom for engaging the trunnions, so that the boards may be drawn along on the tracks horizontally while supported in a horizontal plane. In the normal operation of the'machine, a skin is stretched out flat on a board and is secured thereto by large tacks, as X, which are driven through the skin at its edges and into the board for a sufficient distance to hold the skin in place, the shanks of the tacks being of such length that when they have been driven into the board sufliciently the head portions of the tacks will protrude therefrom for a substantial distance, as indicated in Fig. 3. V

A skin having been thus secured to the top side of a board, the board is automatically inverted and a skin is secured to its opposite side, and then the board is con ducted through a dry room and returned to the starting point, the board being drawn along on the frames 10 in a horizontal position, when first returned thereto. As a skin must be removed from a board before other skin is attached thereto, the operation of removing the tacks from at least one side of the board must be performed before a fresh skin is attached thereto. 7

According to my invention. a rigid cross bar 22 is horizontally mounted at its ends in the frames 10 between the board-engaging and the return sides of the chains and a series of stiff. round metal rods 24 are mounted'in parallelism there n at one end. said rods being disposed in a plane, the elements of which are horizontal transversely of the rods, and being extended from said bar in the direction in which the boards are being conducted by the chains. Said rods are curved upwardly and extended at a gradual inclination from the level of bar 22 to points in proximity to the underside of each board. as it is carried thereover on the tracks of the frames on which theyare supported. sufficientspace being provided between the top sides of the rods and the under sides of the. boards to permit the skins on the latter to be passed readily thereover, the portions of said rods adiacent the path of movement of the boards being curved reversely with relation to the curvature adjacent the cross bar22. so that they extend downwardly from the point at which they extend into sufhciently clos proximity to said path to perform their primary intended function. and then extend downward at a gradual inclination, to a skin Said rods are spaced apart sufficiently to permit the heads of the tacks, by which the skins are secured, to pass between them as the boards are drawn thereover. The rods 24 are preferabl round, so that they present surfaces to the tack heads which are inclined to the direction of movement of the tacks, as they are carried by the boards, and, in case the head of a tack should engage one of the rods, as is quite likely to occur, the tack head would be deflected by the oblique surface of the rod, and, the wood of the board being soft, the tack will be caused to tilt sidewise, so that its head portion will pass between the rods even though it does not happen to be set in a position in which it will pass between two adjacent rods without engagement therewith.

In connection with said rods 24, I employ tack pulling means which are adapted to receive the shanks of the tacks and to engage the under sides of their heads, and, while a means constructed as illustrated in said prior 7 application may be employed, a construction similar to that herein described is preferably employed. .The means shown consists of a stiff wire screen, or netting 26, composed of two interwoven parallel series of stiff wires extending in .oblique relation to each other and forming diamond shaped openings of substantially greater width than the diam horizontal position, the tacks, which are driven into the under side thereof and extend downward therefrom, will first be passed between the rods 24 and then will be carried into engagement with the screen 26, so that the heads of the tacks will be forced intothe openings therein, the tacks being deflected laterally if a tack head should happen to engage a wire of the screen. Consequently, as thetacks are carried along, they will be moved into the V-shaped ends of the screen openings, so that the under sides of the tack heads will become caught by the wires of the screen, as illustrated in Fig. 3,, and willbe held thereby and thus pulled from the board, as it is moved forward, so that the tacks may fall through the screen into a receptacle 27 placed directly therebeneath, as shown in Fig. 1. The rods 24 perform several functions in this connec tion. In case flaps or tongues hang down from the skin, they will usually be lifted by the rods, so that they will slide along on the top sides thereof as the skin is carried thereover, and will be prevented from interfering with the action of the tack pulling device. Also, when :a tack :is pulled from :a board, the portion of the skin through which it is driven not only becomes detached from the board, so that such portion tends to swing downward by its gravity, but it also tends to cling to the tack, so that separation of the skins and tacks would not be secured. With the above described construction, the rods will sustain the detached portions of the skin in proximity to the board, after the tacks have been withdrawn therefrom, so that the tack will also be pulled from the skin. In the operation of removing the tacks, those in advance will obviously be pulledfirst, and, as they :are pulled, the skin portion in advance will swing down and be supported on the rods 24, but such detached portion will be pushed along on "the rods by the portions in the rear thereof, which have not been detached, so that, as the skin is detached, the detached portions will he slid along on the rods and over the rear portions thereof, and when all the tacks have been removed the skin will slide by gravity into the receptacle 25.

In the further operation the boards will then be inverted and the tacks securing the skins on the opposite sides will be removed by a similar apparatus in like manner, and in the general way indicated in said prior application.

Under some conditions the tacks are liable to engage the rods 24 and the wires of the .tack removing screen, or in such a manner that they act to force the boards upward in a manner to cause disengagement of the trunnions 16 of the boards with the conveyor chains.

To prevent this action, :a pair of guards 28 are fixed above and in closeproximity to the horizontal path of movement of the board, directly over the highest portions of the rods 24 and over the end portions of the boards, said guards being normal-1y held out of contact with the board, but in sufficiently close proximity thereto to prevent any appreciable lifting of the boards as'they are drawn over the tack pulling means. 7

A modified form of apparatus for performing the above described functions is illustrated in Fig. 4c, in which the arrangement of rods 24ris practically the same as that previously described, but in which a netting 30, which is similar in all respects to the netting 26, is arranged in the forrnof a cylinder and mounted on a shaft 32, means being provided to rotate said shaft so that the netting will be moved beneath the rods into engagement with the tacks. The screen may be rotated in either direction, but is preferably rotated in the direction to move the screen oppositely to the direction in which the boards are moved at the time of engagement with the tacks. The action is similar to'that of the fixed netting, or tack pulling means, except that the tacks, when engaged,

will be pulled out more quickly and more directly inthe line in which they were driven into the wood, than with the fixed screen, previously described. I claim:

1. In :a machine for drying skins, a holder thereof at the sides of said openings and hold the tacks against movement with the holder and permit them to fall through said openings, and supports disposed-between said screen and the path of movement of the skins carried by said holder to sustain the skins as the tacks are withdrawn and to deliver the skins after the tacks have been withdrawn.

2. In a machine for drying skins, a holder having a plane surface on which the skins are secured by tacks, and means for moving said holder horizontally with said surface facing downward, a tack pulling device disposed beneath and adjacent the path of movement of the holder and comprising a screen having a series of openings adapted to permit the head portions of the tacks to pass 'therethru, so that the under sides of the heads thereof may be engaged with the under side of said screen, and supports extending between the path of movement of the holder and said screen for sustaining the skins in proximity to the holder while the tacks are being withdrawn by said screen.

' 3. In a-machine for drying skins, a holder having a plane surface 'on which the skins are secured by tacks, and means for moving said holder ina path which is approximately in the'plane of said 'surface,fa screen having a seriesof openings through; which the head portions'of skin-securing tacks driven in said holder may pass, said screen having a portion thereof'arranged in the plane of the path of movement of the head portions of the tacks, as they are carried by the holder, and being extended obliquely from said path in a direction opposite that of the direction of movement of the holder.

I 4. In amachine for drying skins, a holder having a plane surface on which the skins are secured by tacks, and means for moving said holder inr-a path to carry it approximately in the plane of said surface and with said surface facing downward, guiding devices mounted adjacentand beneath the path of movement of a skin on said surface for holding the skin in proximity to said surface andbe'tween which the head portions of "ice the tacks may pass as theholder is moved, and tack pulling devices mounted adjacent and beneath said guiding devices, and arranged to engage the head-portions of the tacks as they extend through said guiding devices, to withdraw the tacks from the holder as the latter is moved and permit them to fall therefrom.

5. In a machine for drying skins, a holder having a plane surface on which the skins are securedby tacks and means for moving said holder in a path to carry it approximately in the plane of said surface, a series of guide rods disposed at one side of and in proximity to the path of movement of a skin on said surface and extending in approximate parallelism with each other in the direction in which the holder is moved, said rods being spaced apart sufficiently to permit the protruding head portions of the tacks to pass therebetween, and means disposed at the opposite side of said rods from the path of movement of the holder arranged to engage the under sides of the tacks as they extend between said rods, to withdraw them from the holder while said rods hold the skin in V proximity thereto.

' rods.

6. In a machine for drying skins, a holder having a plane surface on which the skins are secured by tacks and means for movlng said holder in a path to carry it approximately in the plane of said surface a series of guide rods extending in parallelism obliquely towards the path of movement of the holder in close proximity to a skin carried thereby, said rods being spaced apart to permit the tacks to pass therebetween and tack removing devices disposed at the opposite side of said rods from the holder, in position to engage the heads of the tacks extending between said rods.

7. In a machine for drying skins, a holder having a plane surface on which the skins are secured by tacks and means for moving said holder horizontally with said surface at its under side, a series of approximately parallel guide rods extending in the direction of movement of the holder and obliquely upward towards the path of movement of the holder into proximity therewith and then downwardly therefrom, and tack pulling devices disposed beneath said rods and between the upwardly and downwardly extending portions thereof in position to engage the head-portions of the tacks projecting from the holder as they are carried between said 8. In a machine for drying skins, a holder having a plane surface on which the skins are secured by tacks, means for moving said holder in a path to carry it approximately in the plane of its said surface, a tack removing device comprising a cylindrically shaped screen having openings adapted to receive the head portions of theskin-securing tacks and mounted to rotate about an axis parallel to the plane of the path of movement of the holder in position to move the screen into and from the path of movement of the tacks, as they are carried by said holder and means to rotate said screen.

9. In a machine for drying skins, a holder having a plane surface on which the skins are secured by tacks, means for moving said holder in a path to carry it approximately in the plane of its said surface, a tack removing device comprising a cylindrically shaped screen having openings, the middle portions of which are of greater size than the heads of'the skin receiving tacks and which taper in width as they extend circularly, and means for rotating said screen to move it into the path of movement of the tacks as carried by the holder.

10. In a machine for drying skins, a flat holder to the opposite sides of which the skins are secured by tacks, a frame having horizontal tracks for engaging the end portions of the holder and supporting the same horizontally, conveyers having fingers for engaging the holder at its ends to draw the holder over said tracks, a tack-removing device disposed beneath the path of movement of the holder on said tracks and having openings adapted to receive the head portions of placement of the holder when engaged by said tack-removing device.

11. In a machine for drying skins, a holder having a plane surface on which the skins are secured by tacks, and means for moving said holder horizontally with said surface facing downward, a series of supports mounted beneath and in proximity to the path of movement of the skins carried by said holder and arranged to permit the head portions of the tacks to extend therebetween, and a relatively fixed tack pulling device arranged beneath said supports in position to withdraw the tacks from the holder and skin while the skin is sustained by said supports and propelled by said holder.

12. In a machine for drying skins, a holder having a plane surface on which the skins are secured by tacks. and means for moving said holder horizontally with said surface facing downward, a tack pulling device disposed beneath the path of movement of the holder and arranged to withdraw the tacks therefrom as it is moved past the same, and a series of elongated supports disposed between said path and said device and extending in the direction of said path in position to support the skin while said device is operating to Withdraw the tacks and to conduct is to a delivery position beyond said device after the tacks have been withdrawn and while propelled by said holder. 7

13. In a machine for drying skins, a holder having a plane surface on which the skins are secured by tacks, and means for moving said holder horizontally with said surface facing downward, a tack-pulling device disposed beneath the path of movement of the holder and arranged to withdraw the tacks therefrom throughout the width thereof as it is moved past said device and a series of elongated supports disposed in spaced relation throughout the width of said path and between said path and said device and extended in thedirection of said path at each side of said device, to support the different portions of the skin while the tacks are being withdrawn therefrom, and while the detached portions are being propelled by portions which have not been detached. 7

In testimony whereof, I have signed my name to this specification.

GUY H. BERRY. 

